Chapter 106 Could Damian might blow Be on the Verge of a gasket, right? AfterBreakdown?

Emerging from his shower, Damian glanced once morecast a final glance at the house across the way.opposite his. It was stillremained shrouded in darkness and showed no, devoid of any signs of life.

His sleep had improved slightly in seen a slight improvement over the past couple offew days. LastThe previous night, he had managed to secure over five hours of sleeprest, a substantialsignificant improvement compared to his habits.usual pattern. Determined to maintainsustain this new patternrhythm, Damian decided to adopt an out-of-sight, out-of-mind approachstrategy. He shifted the telescope away and lay down to, hoping for sleep.

He had tried closingattempted to close his eyes toand rest, clearingclear his mind for meditation, and every oneeven tried each of the eighteen sleep-inducing techniques Jessica had taught him.

OpeningUpon opening his eyes again,, he noted the time - it was nearly 2:45 in the morning.

His mind was so clear that he could rattle offrecite fifty digits of pi effortlessly—a perfect math score on the SAT would be a breeze for him now.

Slipping into his slippers, Damian stepped onto the balcony for a solitary smoke, alone, staring outhis gaze sweeping over the slumbering city.
The lights went out one by one across the neighborhood extinguished one by one, leaving only a few windows sporadically illuminated windows before they, too, blinked out. Damian stubbed out his cigarette and glanced at the telescope once more with a scowl, steadying it with one hand before restlessly shoving it aside.

He didn't need the telescope to see that the buildings ahead were plunged into darkness. Ashley probably had yet tohadn't come home all night.

He swiped his phone to life and dialed theher number.

The monotonous ringtone grated on his nerves until he finally heard Ashley's hushed "hello." Damian nearly lost his cool.Damian's patience was on the brink. "Where have you been?"

Ashley, irked, wished she could smother him with a pillow. She had stayed up past one in the morning, making sureensuring Amelia had fallen asleep. She had just entered a deep slumber herself, only to be rudely awakened. "Damian, it's three in the morning. You're calling to ask where I am. Do I need to report my whereabouts to you?"

Her mood, normallyusually decent when she got out of bedupon waking, couldn't handle being jolted awakethe abrupt disturbance in the dead of night, and she yelled backretorted without care for who was right or wrong.

Damian's mood wasn't any better, his icy tone sharp enough to wake her from any dream. "Answer my question. Where are you?"

Too tired to argue, Ashley mumbled, "At home."

Damian let out a cold scoff. "Not only not coming home at night but also lying."

Ashley's mind spun as she cursed under her breath. "Watching my house in the middle of the night instead of sleeping. Are you out of your mind, or did you forget your meds? If you forgot, go get them from the drawer!"

It was a knee-jerk mention of the medication, and as she said it, her mind snapped halfway to alertness.

Damn it, she had just given herself away.

Damian, however, wasn't focused on the meds and didn't pursue that angle, dismissing it as Ashley speaking out of turn. "I'm asking you one more time, where are you?"

Joelle's analysis was spot on; Ashley didn't want to tangle with Damian. His egotistical, authoritative, and authoritarian demeanor made him seem like a god to whom the world revolved around. Who in their right mind would want to cater to him?

Ashley's frustration flared. She had been troubled and heartbroken about Amelia's situation all day, and now she had to endure Damian's unreasonable interrogation in the middle of the night.

"I'm at a place I like, with people I care about. What more do you want to know, Damian? Should I walk you through the entire sequence of events?"

The call ended with a busy tone, and peace returned to her world.

Staring at the ceiling, Ashley laid her phone on the coffee table next to the couch, using her arm as a pillow.

Maybe Damian was giving her a hard time because he knew she was vulnerable and alone.

Starting a new relationship would allow her to say goodbye to Damian for good.

Waking up on the couch, her back ached, and her head throbbed from being rudely awakened yet again by the phone ringing.Especially seeing Damian's name on the caller ID made her blood boil."What do you want now?" Enough already.Damian's tone was fouler than hers. "Ashley, look at the mess you've stumbled into."What had she done??Then, the call was abruptly cut off.She was completely bewildered. Had he overmedicated into stupidity?

Especially seeing Damian's name on In the span of a few seconds, her phone buzzed once more. This time, the caller ID made her blood boil.

"What dowas Thomas."Are you want now?"
available Enough already.

Damian's tone was fouler than hers. "Ashley, look at the mess you've stumbled into."

What had she done??

Then, the call was abruptly cut off.

Completely bewildered!!

Was someone overmedicated into stupidity??

Seconds later, her phone buzzed again—this time, it was Thomas.

"Ashleys, you free right nowmoment, Ashley?" he asked.

Out of professional habitinquired.Almost instinctively, Ashley's first thought was ‘Ismind veered towards the worst-case scenario. 'Could there trouble?’

be a problem?' she wondered."I'm sendingforwarding you some screenshots. Take a lookPlease review them, and then we can talk in person," he proposed.

discuss the matter face-to-face," Thomas suggested.With a sense of dread, Ashley opened the messages and, with trembling . As she scanned the contents, her fingers, fumed. "The trembled with indignation. "So, the guilty party fileshas the suit, huhaudacity to file a lawsuit? I was therepresent throughout the whole timeincident; her story is a complete fabricationclaims are nothing but a pack of lies, and I can testify tovouch for that."

Previously, Damian had a collisionbeen involved in a minor accident with a street vendor. Ashley, in good faith, didn't make a big deal of it, but her goodwill, had chosen not to escalate the situation. However, to their surprise,astonishment, the vendor had taken to the internet two days later, the vendor popped up online claiming she gotalleging that she had been hit by a luxuryhigh-end car whose. The driver, usingshe claimed, had used their influence, refused to compensateavoid paying her.

any compensation.The screenshots showed clear pictures from presented a vivid picture, captured by a street camera: a tricycle toppled overlying on its side, a luxury car skewed onto the curb, and the a clearly visible license plate was fully visible. She . Ashley and Damian were half-facedturned towards the camera—, their faces recognizable to those who knew anyone familiar with Damian.

These crisp The clarity of the photos had to besuggested an inside job.

Thomas explained, "There's so mucha lot of class resentment brewing online. ," Thomas explained. "People see a luxury car involved in a crashan accident, and they're readyquick to villainizedemonize the owner. This personindividual is usingmanipulating public opinionsentiment to pressure the CEO, and right now. Currently, the netizens are ruthlessly bashingonline community is relentlessly attacking... the CEO."

Ashley'sThe lack of sleep was causing a beginning to take a toll on Ashley, resulting in a throbbing headache, and she didn't want. Not wanting to wakedisturb Amelia with the noise. Barefoot, she steppedtiptoed out of the kitchen, closingbarefoot. As she closed the door behind her, pressingshe pressed her throbbingfingers against her temples. "Whose name is the car registered under? Can the DMV trace it back to him?"

The mere thought of Damian being outed like that would probably exposed in such a manner was enough to drive him mad.

"It's to the brink of insanity."The car is registered under my name," Thomas admitted.

confessed.Ashley paused., taken aback. "That's..."

"When we acquiredpurchased the car, the CEO couldn't be involved publicly. Actually, a lotIn fact, many of his assets are inregistered under my name. If someone digswere to dig deep enough, they'llthey'd trace it back to me," Thomas disclosed.

Butrevealed.However, that wasn't the point.crux of the matter. The real issueproblem was that tracing it to him meant gettingthe car back to Thomas would bring them dangerously close to Damian.

And heThomas was certainly didn't matchnot the person pictured.

Diddepicted in the photos.Could Damian really trust Thomas to thatsuch an extent?

After a moment's thought, mulling it over, Ashley advised, "The media stormfrenzy hasn't hit full forcereached its peak yet. StartBegin with damage control to minimizemitigate the fallout, then have your PR and legal team reach out toapproach the vendor. Someone'sIt's highly likely coaching her—atthat she's being guided by someone. At her level, she wouldn't have the gutsaudacity or the authority."

Thomas wantedwas about to saymention that the CEO had already instructed as much,issued similar instructions and that KM Road was on it. "Okay, we will do that. And sincethe case. "Alright, we'll proceed as you suggested. Since you're a witness, could you please come down to KM Road? Our legal department wantswould like to discuss thisthe matter with you and decide on the best course of action."
Ashley hadsaw no reason to decline the request. "AlrightVery well, I'll be there ASAP."

Amelia, rubbing her head as she came out, sawsoon as possible."As Ashley was rushing through her morning routine, preparing to leave., Amelia emerged, rubbing her head. "Where are you off to?"

"Donning my shoes and headed?""I'm just grabbing my purse and putting on my shoes," Ashley replied, "there'sresponded, "There's an urgent case, and I'm matter that requires my attention, and I happen to be a witness. I need to make an appearance."

She deliberately avoided mentioning Damian –, knowing that it would lead to a conversation she didn't wantwas not ready to have.

Amelia nodded. in understanding. "Go handle your business. I'm fine now. My agent called; we've gotwe have a script reading later. Don't worry about me. I'm all good."

perfectly alright."Ashley lookedglanced at herAmelia, her hair a messdisheveled and her eyes lacking their usual sparksparkle, and found her reassurances hard to believe. "I'll come check on you tonight, just wait for me. And at the meeting, stay away from boozesteer clear of alcohol, stick to your water bottle."

Amelia chuckled in response. "Yes, Mom, got it!"

understood!"Preoccupied with her thoughts, Ashley drove distractedly and missed the lane change sign, accidentally turning while driving and inadvertently turned onto the access road under the overpass along the solid line.

She didn't frequentwasn't familiar with this route, and if it weren'thadn't been for the patrol officer who caught her in the act, she wouldn't have even realized she had brokenviolated any traffic rules.

Damn it!

The officer gesturedsignaled for her to pull over and tapped on her window.

With a look of frustration, Ashley, looking frustrated, rolled down her window and offeredforced a strained smile. "Officer, what seems to be the problem?"

issue?"The officer, a young man in his twenties dressed in a crisp uniform and holding a ticket book, leaned towards the driver's seat and. He paused, a bit startled to see such a slightly taken aback by the strikingly attractive woman behind the wheel.

"Changing lanes over"Crossing a solid line to change lanes, huh? What,Do you think this is your living room or something?"

He thought he was being funny, but the jokeHis attempt at humor fell flat.

Ashley smiled apologetically. "I'm so sorry, I wasn't paying attention."

"All business, the officer requested, "Driver's license, please."

Ashley rummaged through her bag to no avail; the , but her license was nowhere to be found.

Where on earth was that darn license?

She had always assumed it was in her bag and only bothered to check now realized it was missing. "I'm really sorry, officer, I forgot my license. I'll pay the fine online."

The officer, who hadhaving just finished writing a ticket for the lane violation, neatly tore it off neatly and started writing another one. "Driving without a license, that's a two hundred dollar fine. Pull over to the side, and come get it when you have your license."

Ashley cursedmuttered a curse under her breath but had to remain polite.maintained her composure. "Officer, cancould I just park at the corner up ahead?"

As long as she could drive away, she would gun it to KM Road Group!

The officer was firm. "Unwillingunyielding. "Refusing to comply with law enforcement? Alright, wait here then."

"No." Ashley wantedwas tempted to punchlash out at him in frustration but decided to comply. "Okay, okay!"

"Alright, alright!"She parked her car and hailed a cab.

ArrivingUpon her arrival at KM Road Tower, she was immediately metgreeted by Thomas in the lobby, who was. He looked visibly anxious. "SorryI apologize for being late..."

my tardiness..."Thomas cutinterrupted her off, "Hurry up and come with me upstairs - the CEO'sCEO is about to doconduct a major sweep through the offices."